LEM Wins Big at 44th Annual Telly Awards

On Tuesday, Lens End Media received news that they officially won the Bronze Telly Award in the Branded Content for Non-Profit Category in the record breaking 44th Annual Telly Awards.

Honoring Excellence for 44 Years

The Telly Awards is the premier award honoring video and television across all screens. Established in 1979, The Telly Awards receives over 12,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents. Entrants are judged by The Telly Awards Judging Council—an industry body of over 200 leading experts including advertising agencies, production companies, and major television networks, reflective of the multiscreen industry The Telly Awards celebrates. The Telly Awards honors excellence in video and television across all screens and is judged by leaders from video platforms, television, streaming networks, production companies and including Adobe, BBC World Service, Netflix, Dow Jones, Complex Networks, Jennifer Garner, A&E Networks, Hearst Media, Nickelodeon, National Geographic Society, ESPN Films, RYOT, Partizan and Vimeo.

"The caliber of the work this season coming from creators such as Lens End Media truly has reflected the theme of breaking out and standing out”

— Sabrina Dridje, Telly Executive Director

The Winning Commercial

LEM was recognized for filming the Healthy Future’s campaign ad for Comic Relief US’s Red Nose Day campaign. The commercial can be seen below.

It is estimated that right here in the US, an estimated 11 million children – that’s around 1 in 7 – are food insecure, which means they may not know when their next meal will come from, or do not have consistent access to enough nutritious food. The campaign is meant to support programs that provide healthy food, treat malnutrition, offer nutritional education and foster behavioral change to create more equitable and resilient food systems.

The commercial was displayed across a series of digital ads around various platforms to help bring awareness to Red Nose Day’s work in helping provide healthy futures for children around the US.

Filming Over Two Days in Silver Spring, Maryland

The ad was filmed in a studio in Silver Spring, Maryland over two days with a crew of 9 people and final cast of 12 actors. Over 70 actors applied for the role when the initial casting call was released and the final cast was chosen based on a variety of factors. After the ad was filmed, the footage went into post-production where it was edited over two days in Lens End Media’s office in Arlington, Virginia.

Seen: Annabel Storm smiling with her Red Nose

Partnership with Comic Relief and Red Nose Day

Comic Relief US, who runs the Red Nose Day campaign every year with collaborators such as Walgreens, has been invested into creating content that inspires a new wave of support from around the world. Ridwan Adhami, who serves as the Creative Director at Comic Relief US and who served as the Director on this commercial, stated “It’s an honor to make creative content that is serving a greater purpose. At Comic Relief US our goal is to create a healthy future for all children with our Red Nose Day campaign. This spot shows the joy and impact of what giving a simple gift can do.”

Ibrahim Zafar, the Producer and CEO at LEM, elaborated further on the partnership “We have been proud to work with Comic Relief US and Red Nose Day for more than two years now. This commercial is just one of many projects that we’ve been fortunate to work with them on. It’s always incredible when our passion as filmmakers is tied to impactful work such as this ad.”

Seen: Crew setting up for the commercial

Special Thanks to Cast and Crew

This commercial would not have been made possible without the incredible efforts put in by the cast and crew who we would like to recognize below:

Ridwan Adhami (Director), Ibrahim Zafar (Producer), Neil Gerardo (Production Manager), Ahmad Asaad (Director of Photography), Leon Spades (Gaffer), Andrew Nagl (Key Grip), Tiffani Sydnor (Art Director), Jasmine Mohammed (Hair and Makeup Artist), Farzad Moosvi (Production Assistant), and Brandon Nguyen (BTS).

(Cast) Gill Smith, Annabel Storm, Jossalin Lazisky, Piero Sarmiento, Jordan Bigby, Amane Endo, Miyu Endo, Seth DeCapite, Jaxson Bondu, Grayson Santos, Sabrina Halzel, and Sebastian Cochran.